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MDF vs. Grade A Lava

MDF and grade A lava belong to fundamentally different material chemistries. MDF is a polymeric material, while grade A lava is ceramic. Therefore, their performance will be even more dissimilar than would be suggested by the difference in properties. There are 10 material properties with values for both materials. Properties with values for just one material (12, in this case) are not shown. Please note that the two materials have significantly dissimilar densities. This means that additional care is required when interpreting the data, because some material properties are based on units of mass, while others are based on units of area or volume.

For each property being compared, the top bar is MDF and the bottom bar is grade A lava.

Metric UnitsUS Customary Units

Material Properties

Compressive (Crushing) Strength, MPa 10
76 to 170
Density, g/cm3 0.75
2.3 to 2.5
Dielectric Strength (Breakdown Potential), kV/mm 0.5
3.2 to 3.9
Specific Heat Capacity, J/kg-K 1700
840
Strength to Weight: Axial, points 6.7
0.77 to 2.5
Strength to Weight: Bending, points 20
3.2 to 7.3
Tensile Strength: Ultimate (UTS), MPa 18
6.9 to 21
Thermal Conductivity, W/m-K 0.3
2.0
Thermal Diffusivity, mm2/s 0.24
1.0
Thermal Expansion, µm/m-K 12
2.5 to 3.3